Defibrillation
An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is a device designed to detect a life-threatening, rapid heartbeat coming from the bottom chamber of the heart. It tries to convert an abnormal rhythm back to normal by delivering an electrical shock to the heart, called defibrillation. An ICD can prevent sudden cardiac death. Ideal patients for an ICD have survived a cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation; life-threatening episodes of ventricular tachycardia; survived a heart attack, but whose heart remains weak; problems with the heart muscle, including dilated cardiomyopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, especially when unexplained fainting episodes have occurred; and reduced pumping function of the heart
Variants
- ICD
